Rashid Al Dhaheri ends his UAE karting season on a high

15 April 2014

Little Alonso ends his season on a high with quadruple win

Experts impressed with Rashid Al Dhaheri who has taken the local karting scene by storm

Dream to reach Formula 1 is alive and well

The 2013-2014 UAE Rotax MAX Challenge Season came to an end this past weekend and one of the highlights of the day was Rashid Al Dhaheri’s quadruple win in the Bambino Class on the day to bring his remarkable season to a close on a high at Al Ain Raceway.

The Emirati youngster – popularly known as the Little Alonso – who turned six on 8th April was comfortably quicker than any of his rivals, and his rookie season has been one of the most impressive in memory on the local karting scene as he powered to 11 victories out of 21 starts, of which the last seven he has won consecutively and by a margin which more often than not was by over a second to his closest rival.

Apart from winning races he is also winning friends and fans off the track, not only for his obvious skill and determination but also his signature victory salute which is followed by a huge smile as he removes the Fernando Alonso replica helmet.

“Rashid’s performance was impeccable; he outpaced everyone and stayed consistently focused. The kid is a born champion. This season Rashid collected 11 victories in 21 races, the most win in the Bambino category which is a great achievement for a rookie,” said Rashid’s Coach Paul Chatenay.

Also on hand at Al Ain for the season finale was David Terrien, multiple world champion who said, “Rashid is a very talented driver showing great motivation and dedication but also mature for a 6 years old kid. He doesn’t really have much of competition in the bambino class as he is most of the times ahead of the other older kids competing with him.”

Carlo Passeri, who does the spanner work on Al Dhahaeri’s kart, and is a veteran of the European karting scene summed up his thought, “I thought that – after 25 years in the karting business – nothing could surprise me anymore. But, Rashid is able to do so. In this first year of working as his mechanic he has shown me that with intelligence, passion and love for motorsport, you can achieve exceptional results.”

Little Al Dhaheri missed out on the championship title, in his rookie year, by a mere two points but nevertheless has made the biggest impact on the UAE karting scene in memory. His campaign in now shifts to Europe where he will take on the best of his age group and continue his path up the ladder of motorsport.

Al Dhaheri’s dream is to become a Formula 1 driver and represent the UAE at the highest level, and his rookie season performance is the first test on the long road to the top, and he passed it with flying colours.